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F.D.A. Ruling Would All but Eliminate Trans Fats

The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday proposed measures that
would all but eliminate artificial trans fats, the artery clogging
substance that is a major contributor to heart disease in the United
States, from the food supply.

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Under the proposal, which is open for public comment for 60 days, the
agency would declare that partially hydrogenated oils, the source of
trans fats, were no longer “generally recognized as safe,” a legal
category that permits the use of salt and caffeine, for example.

That means companies would have to prove scientifically that partially
hydrogenated oils are safe to eat, a very high hurdle given that
scientific literature overwhelmingly shows the contrary. The Institute
of Medicine has concluded that there is no safe level for consumption of
artificial trans fats.

“That will make it a challenge, to be honest,” said Michael R. Taylor, deputy commissioner for foods at the F.D.A.

Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg, the agency’s commissioner, said the rules could
prevent 20,000 heart attacks and 7,000 deaths from heart disease each
year.

The move concluded three decades of battles by public health advocates
against artificial trans fats, which occur when liquid oil is treated
with hydrogen gas and made solid. The long-lasting fats became popular
in frying and baking and in household items like margarine, and were
cheaper than animal fat, like butter.

But over the years, scientific evidence has shown they are worse than
any other fat for health because they raise the levels of so-called bad
cholesterol and can lower the levels of good cholesterol. In 2006, an
F.D.A. rule went into effect requiring that artificial trans fats be
listed on food labels, a shift that prompted many large producers to
eliminate them. A year earlier, New York City told restaurants to stop
using artificial trans fats in cooking. Many major chains like
McDonalds, found substitutes, and eliminated trans fats.

Those actions led to major advances in public health: Trans fat intake
declined among Americans to about one gram a day in 2012, down from 4.6
grams in 2006. A report from the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention found that blood levels of trans fatty acids among white
adults in the United States declined by 58 percent from 2000 to 2009.

But the fats were not banned, and still lurk in many popular processed
foods, such as microwave popcorn, certain desserts, frozen pizzas,
margarines and coffee creamers.

“The artery is still half clogged,” said Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, the
director of the disease centers. “This is about preventing people from
being exposed to a harmful chemical that most of the time they didn’t
even know was there.”

He noted that artificial trans fats are required to be on the label only
if there is more than half a gram per serving, a trace amount that can
add up fast and lead to increased risk of heart attack. Even as little
as two or three grams of trans fat a day can increase the health risk,
scientists say.

“It’s quite important,” said Dr. Frieden, who led the charge against the
fats in New York when he was health commissioner there. “It’s going to
save a huge amount in health care costs and will mean fewer heart
attacks.”

Some trans fats occur naturally. The F.D.A. proposal only applies to those that are added to foods.

Public health advocates applauded the measure.

“Most of it is gone, but what remains is still a serious problem,” said
Michael F. Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the
Public Interest, which petitioned the F.D.A. to require artificial
trans fats to be listed on nutrition labels as early as 1994.

“I suspect there are thousands of smaller restaurants that continue to
use it out of ignorance,” he said, adding that they ask: “'Trans what?’
They just use whatever the supplier sends.”

But public awareness can be powerful. This summer Mr. Jacobson’s
nonprofit group drew attention to the fact that the so-called Big Catch
fried fish meal at Long John Silvers, which comes with fried hush
puppies and fried potatoes, contained 33 grams of trans fat. The
restaurant chain has since promised to eliminate trans fats by the end
of the year.

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